


You and Me in Unimatrix Zero

by LZClotho (LZielinsky)



Series: Unimatrix Zero [1]
Category: Star Trek: Voyager
Genre: Episode: s06e26 Unimatrix Zero, Episode: s07e01 Unimatrix Zero Part II, F/F, Mind Meld, Rescue Missions, Seven-as-Annika, battling the Borg
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-09
Updated: 2020-09-09
Packaged: 2021-03-07 00:47:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,445
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26378284
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LZielinsky/pseuds/LZClotho
Summary: Summary: A J/7 take on the events of "Unimatrix Zero." And if they did come together, would they remember anything? This is split into two parts, same as the episode.
Relationships: Kathryn Janeway/Seven of Nine
Series: Unimatrix Zero [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1917025
Kudos: 23





	1. Part 1

_ From "Unimatrix Zero", part 1...  _

_ "I know it's unusual, but Seven has discovered a weakness in the Borg." The captain turned. Seven was suddenly caught in a blue gaze that wouldn't let her go. The captain was assessing a plan, right there, the former Borg could tell, almost as clearly as if they were linked. She cocked her head to the side, inviting the captain to speak what she was thinking.  _

_ "We need to find out more about this place."  _

_ "Too bad you don't have the benefit of an interlink node." Chakotay's voice held a distinctive note of sarcasm which made everyone look sharply at him. Least of all, the captain, whose sharp gaze could have cut duranium.  _

_ Tuvok's dark eyes gleamed with possibilities as well. Seven realized that as she caught him stepping toward her and the captain. "There may be a way," he said.  _

_ Which grabbed the captain's attention. Janeway's look prompted Tuvok into explaining himself.  _

_ "There is a Vulcan technique called the bridging of minds. It may permit the captain to enter Unimatrix Zero with Seven the next time she is summoned."  _

_ "Are you serious?" Seven heard Janeway and thought such a question obtuse. The Vulcan was always serious. Seven therefore concluded that the captain was expressing surprise or disbelief.  _

_ "I would serve as the conduit, and be able to monitor both of you," Tuvok supplied. Seven watched Janeway contemplate the suggestion.  _

_ "Sounds like a conference call to me," the Doctor acerbically noted.  _

_ "Objection noted." Janeway cut him off with a glance and moved closer to Seven, looking up into the Borg's curious expression. "Looks like you'll be turning in early." Blue eyes met hers and the low voice sent a shiver down Seven's spine.  _

Later...

Janeway walked to the viewports and looked out, contemplating her decision as the rest of the command crew filed out of the conference room.  _ So, a mind-meld with Seven, huh, Kathryn? _ she wondered to herself.  _ How much more can you take? How much more are you going to take before...? _

"Kathryn?" 

Thinking she was alone, she started at Chakotay's voice, but turned, altering her expression quickly. "I thought you were going to the bridge," she chided, unable to completely hide her distraction. 

He cut right to the point; she could see the determination in his dark eyes. "You really are going to do this?" 

"Seven says they need help. They want help, Chakotay. I can't ignore that." 

"Then let Tuvok meld with her -- alone. Hell, Kathryn, we don't know how interactive this link will be. It's dangerous -- and you shouldn't go." 

"I know the risks," she countered. "Voyager received a distress call, and I am going to answer it."

His jaw firmed and Janeway braced herself for the argument. She tried to forestall it. "What would I be telling the crew if we started ignoring distress calls? I won't abandon our principles this close to home." 

"You want that transwarp drive," he countered succinctly. 

"It'd be a bonus," she admitted, neither acknowledging nor denying the possibility. "But the key here is the drones. They don't have the ability to do this themselves, though they want to. I'd like to find a way to help them." 

"Kathryn Janeway versus the Borg." She felt the stab. He thought she was going off on her own again. 

"It's not like that Chakotay." 

"It isn't? Sure as hell looks like it to me," he shot back. 

Kathryn wanted a breather, some room before she stepped into that alcove with Seven to God knew what, and stepped back from the confrontation with Chakotay. When he stepped forward thinking perhaps to press the issue, she cut him off before he could speak. "Chakotay, I've decided. Now, I've got to get to the cargo bay." She paused for a long beat, forcing him to meet her eyes. When he looked away, she asked, "Are you with me?" She meant it for more than the simple walk through the corridors, and he knew it. 

"I want a full report when it's over," he replied stiffly. 

"Tuvok will no doubt fill in anything Seven or I leave out." 

"All right." He gestured for her to precede him to the door, followed her across the bridge, where Harry Kim held the conn; Tuvok was already down in the cargo bay no doubt. 

With Chakotay a half step back, the pair stepped into the turbolift and she ordered, "Deck 8, Cargo bay." 

**_Cargo Bay 2, a little later..._ **

"Let's do it," Janeway came around Tuvok as Seven stepped up into her alcove. Both women focused on the smooth features and dark eyes of the security chief. Each had, on separate occasions, participated in a mind meld with the Vulcan. Kathryn had helped him locate subdued memories triggered by an encounter with a nebula. Tuvok had helped Seven contain several assimilated personalities triggered by her exposure to a damaged Borg reticulum. 

Because of these experiences, each woman had a unique bond with Tuvok already, refined over the number of years together. 

Just before Tuvok's fingers touched her forehead, Janeway wondered if the bridge would give Seven and herself a bond as well. At one time she had thought they had one formed caused by Seven's -- and her own, truth told -- desire to get along. Over the last year however many things had put them in virulent conflict. With a faint smile she remembered the last time they had been this close, and reached out, as she had not then, grasping the other woman's hand beneath the alcove support beam. 

"I will be in control of the link," Tuvok said. "If anything goes wrong, I will terminate the procedure." 

"Understood." Kathryn looked up when she realized she had echoed the Borg's customary phrasing. There was no more time to think then. Tuvok's fingers warmed against her temple and cheek and the steady voice began. 

Beside the captain, Seven remembered her last venture into Unimatrix Zero and just as the regeneration cycle took hold, she let her fingers close over Janeway's. The captain's fingers squeezed back. Then it was dark. 

_ Unimatrix Zero...  _

Seven opened her eyes, looking around tentatively until she saw the captain standing just out of arm's reach, looking at the moment at the bush behind her. "Captain." 

The smaller woman turned and Seven felt something akin to a blush surge in her face as the keen astonishment, and genuine pleasure, suddenly reaching out to her from beneath soft brows and tousled auburn hair. The entire effect made Seven ineffably pleased by the captain's reaction. Janeway's expression lightened even more at Seven's smile. "Seven?" 

Thinking briefly that perhaps she had not accomplished her one last conscious thought -- to appear without implants -- Seven brushed her fingers over her left temple. 

"Annika. I -- That's what I'm called here." She felt her chest tighten, remembering distinctly telling the captain once that she was not Annika, not remembering anything of the six year old girl she had once been. Would Janeway understand, even when Seven herself wasn't quite sure, why she accepted it now? 

"Annika," Kathryn Janeway's smooth voice rolled over the name, filling Seven with a pleasant sensation. A sound, of people moving and talking, caught the captain's attention however and the slate blue eyes left her own. "Drones?" Janeway asked, making Seven turn her head to see. Seven nodded. "Ummm hmmm. Come on, let's find Axum." Janeway quickly moved alongside her. 

"It feels so real here," Janeway commented, brushing her palm over a flowering bush. 

"Perhaps a comparison to Voyager's holodecks is appropriate," Seven responded. 

"It seems somehow richer than that," Janeway countered, taking a deep breath. "If you were used to this, no wonder you thought the holodecks were 'irrelevant.'" The captain chuckled causing Seven to pause and glance back at her for a long moment. 

"I do not recall being here." 

"What about Axum?" 

Seven was uncertain, but she thought she detected, as she had in the conference room on Voyager, that the name, or the person disturbed Janeway... somehow. She did not know how to explain the combination of familiarity and unease she felt in Axum's presence other than "he was someone I apparently knew," which she fell back on now as they continued walking.

"Do you trust him?" Janeway waved her hand. "Forget I asked that. I'm here already. We'll deal with whatever happens. I certainly hope he's worth trusting." 

Seven paused, aware suddenly of a feeling of concern, about safety. Not hers, but the captain's. She stopped on the path, letting the smaller woman pass her. 

The auburn haired woman paused on the path and looked back at Seven, hands on her hips. "Seven?"

The blonde blinked. "My apologies." She shook off her discomfort. "Let us continue." The captain reached out a hand and smiled. Seven took it; the moment their fingertips touched her uncertainties vanished, and the two women pushed deeper into the virtual world. 

Janeway found it difficult to regain her sense of mission. Almost every thought had fled except a desire to see this entire world – with Annika. 

_ God _ . She looked over again, at the profile beside her. Seven – Annika -- was poised. The cool look with which Kathryn had become so familiar was gone, replaced by vibrancy. Uninterested appraisal had vanished in a flood of barely contained excitement. It gave Annika's cheeks high color and without her implants -- miraculously wished away -- cool ice blue eyes instead reflected the sunlight in depths as blue as sapphires. 

The pair rounded a turn in the path and Janeway stumbled over Seven's rearmost foot. She reached out to steady herself. Her hand closed over fabric sheer enough and thin enough compared to the Borg's usual body-conforming biosuits, that it was like touching bare skin. 

Seven's hands were suddenly on her own waist, aiding the captain in righting herself. "My apologies, Captain." 

"That's -- I'm fine," she responded. "Why are we stopping?" 

"We are here," Annika --  _ for Janeway could no longer see the vibrant woman before her as the Borg Seven of Nine _ \-- said with a smile, her hand lingering on Kathryn's as the captain shifted to straighten her uniform and look around. 

It looked remarkably like a campsite, Kathryn thought, locating a table, benches and sunshades in the clearing. A tall, spare man walked toward them, his race not familiar to her. 

"Axum," Annika supplied. "This is Captain Janeway." The captain offered her hand and firmly he took it. 

**_Back on Voyager..._ **

Chakotay had cleared the cargo bay while Tuvok conducted the bridging. Janeway opened her eyes to find herself, Seven and Tuvok the only remaining occupants. She blinked to adjust to the lower lighting. 

"Captain?" Tuvok's fingers dropped from her cheek as their eyes met. 

"I'm fine, Tuvok." She looked down at her hands, finding the left one intertwined with Seven's. Following her gaze back up along the Borg's arm, she met blinking blue eyes as Seven began to come around as well. "Seven?" 

Blue eyes, once again edged with a silver implant, still seemed to grab Janeway.  _ Was that a smile edging the woman's full lips? _ "I am fine." 

"Was your curiosity satisfied, Captain?" The Vulcan's calm, warm tone let Janeway know she was acting particularly distracted. 

Quickly she pulled her mind to the tasks discussed in the virtual world. "Yes, Tuvok. Seven, I'd like to discuss this with you in one hour. I have to see the commander first." 

"Yes, Captain." Tuvok and Seven's voices merged in their simultaneous reply. Apparently, Janeway thought, a lingering effect of the bridge would continue to make them all slightly attuned to one another for a while longer. 

That suited the captain just fine. There would be fewer arguments to her plan of action. Now she just had to get Chakotay on board with the plan. 

**_Concluded in “You and Me in the UZ, Part 2”_ **


	2. Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> To implement a very risky plan to destroy the Queen's control of the Borg, Janeway is now a drone aboard a Borg vessel. She enters the Unimatrix Zero and is met with Seven, now Annika, moved by the woman's efforts to confess feelings, and the Starfleet captain does the same.

Borg drones moved efficiently through the narrow alcove-lined corridors of Tactical Cube 159, going about their functions in making the mild repairs inflicted by the Federation starship USS Voyager. One stopped against a support beam, uncharacteristically looking drawn and worn. The drone's mechanically augmented left fist closed around the pole.

The very human right arm lifted and slender fingers traced over the mechanics covering most of a delicately boned face barely recognizable as the once formidable Voyager captain Kathryn Janeway.

The buzz in her head was nearly unbearable. From Seven of Nine's advice, she knew the noise to be the thoughts of the mass of humanoids surrounding her, and across the galaxy, the whole of the Borg. That her own awareness remained intact only made the cacophony more agonizing -- people she could reach, yet not. Six years with only her own thoughts seldom expressed, or others expressing theirs to her, Janeway tried to resist the inclination to sort through the noise, to find one voice, one person on whom to focus her attention. To succumb to that desire would lead her down the path to madness -- full assimilation by the Borg, despite the psychtropic blocking agent they had discovered, the desire to make sense of the cacophony, from chaos, would bring order, only irrevocable Borg order.

Kathryn Janeway turned her formidable will into gradually relegating the cacophony ignorable white noise. Suddenly Kathryn became aware of one voice, soft, feminine, repeating one order over and over again.

_ Regenerate . _

She wanted to resist.  _ I am a starship captain  _ , she thought for the briefest instant. She caught sight -- green and flat -- of a viewscreen following a ship as it departed the cube's vicinity.

Her feet turned her around.  _ Regenerate . _

_ I was a starship captain . _

She stepped into an alcove, for the briefest instant not aware of what she was supposed to do next. Then she found her body backing itself against the connection plate. An electrical energy surged through her body and the pain shocked her into a mental black void.

Reflexively she closed her eyes.

# # #

"Captain?"

Kathryn Janeway opened her eyes and immediately recognized the forest-like glade in which she stood, from her previous trip to Unimatrix Zero piggybacking on Seven's mind. A hand touched her shoulder, soft, warm and void of mechanization. She almost cried out with relief. A male voice sounded next to her and she jumped as she turned. "Captain."

Tuvok, Voyager's chief of security, offered her a tight-lipped expression, the closest his Vulcan heritage permitted to a smile, warming her in its familiarity.

"Tuvok," she breathed then cleared her throat. "Who else is here?"

"Lt. Torres should be arriving momentarily," he said. "Seven of Nine 'summoned' us shortly before Voyager entered warp."

She nodded. So Seven had been behind the regeneration command she had initially resisted. "Is she still here?"

At that moment a figure stepped from behind a nearby copse of trees, parting the foliage with long fingered lean hands. "I am here."

Again Kathryn felt the surprise -- and something else, as a smile tugged at her mouth. The young blonde woman offered her a gentle nod, eyes pinning her in place.

Annika -- for this was not the austerity of Seven of Nine, but her vibrant humanity personified -- moved toward the smaller woman. "Are you well, Captain?"

"As well as can be expected," Kathryn responded wryly. She caught Tuvok moving out of the corner of her eye, giving them space. She moved toward the former Borg drone who had become a trusted member of her starship crew these last several years.

"Commander Chakotay reports that Voyager has cleared the immediate danger," Annika reported.

"Good, good." Kathryn paced. "How can we get to the central plexus?"

At that moment Axum arrived, coalescing into Unimatrix Zero about two meters from the women's position, causing Janeway to jump with some surprise.

Hands settled on her shoulder and she looked to see Tuvok had returned to stand at her left side. On her right, Annika studied her with concern. "Just not used to this," she murmured toward Tuvok. Both took a step back.

"Seven," Axum pointed out, "seems to have control, or at least influence, over the Unimatrix Zero capable drones."

"We should try to bring as many of them here as possible. Tuvok, B'Elanna, I... We each have an injector, but we need to get to the central plexus."

"A vessel in regeneration mode will not interfere with your path. The drones have other routines to run."

"And when they are all in here?" Axum asked.

Annika revealed, "We will transmit the virus to other vessels."

"Bringing chaos to order," Janeway affirmed.

Janeway found a hand on her shoulder and looked up in surprise to see Annika searching her gaze. "Captain?"

The woman looked uncertain. "It'll work," the captain assured. Annika pursed her lips, but gradually the captain's words seemed to appease her. She gave a short nod and stepped back.

Kathryn worried. "Tuvok, follow Axum and start distributing serums as regenerating drones come in." Tuvok nodded at Axum, who glanced from the captain to Annika and back again before quickly leading the Vulcan away from the clearing.

"Annika?" The young woman had closed her eyes and was murmuring something under her breath. As Janeway neared, she finally heard, "Regenerate."

This ability to command drones suddenly struck Janeway. "You were meant to be the next queen, weren't you?" 

"When the Borg Queen traded me for Voyager's safe escape two years ago," Seven began. "I... it. I commanded small groups of drones."

"So now?"

"She knows I am here."

"She can't end the connection she gave you, can she?"

"Axum does not believe so. He believes we will prevail and I... will become the new queen."

"He has a lot of faith in you."

"He..." Seven dipped her chin, turning her gaze away. "I believe he is... that he has... feelings for me."

Kathryn wasn't sure why she was surprised. Half of Voyager's crew, male and female alike, found Seven very attractive. "You may be mistaking his gratitude for our solution."

"He states that he and I were... involved previously."

"Before you were severed from the Collective?" Kathryn frowned. "Do you remember?"

"No. I have no recollection of intimacy with anyone."

Kathryn considered this. "Perhaps he is suggesting a deeper connection to assure your cooperation."

"It would be unnecessary. I am committed to... this." Seven's pause struck Janeway oddly.

"Are you sure?" Kathryn touched Seven's arm as her gaze turned away at some noise. "Seven?"

"There are drones coming," Seven warned.

Quickly pushing their conversation aside, Kathryn and Seven rushed toward where Seven had heard sounds. A group of drones, remaining tied to the Borg Queen as evidenced by their visualization in full Borg form, engaged several Unimatrix Zero drones in hand-to-hand combat in the clearing. Grabbing weapons and wading in, Seven and Kathryn moved back to back, defending each other from the assimilation tubules of the Queen's drones. Kathryn backhanded a drone going for Seven's jugular, knocking him on his back and leaping on him, driving the bat'leth down into his chest with a huge overhand sweep.

Behind her she heard the cacophony of more drones entering the clearing. Turning, she jumped to her feet in time to see Seven intercede, driving back a drone who had waggling tubules, clearly having been aiming for Kathryn's neck from behind.

The intersection was transient and as the drones vanished, the Unimatrix Zero inhabitants celebrated victory in the small skirmish. The clearing was once again quiet.

Exhausted, Kathryn lowered herself to a fallen tree stump, looking at the slight cuts and bruises she had sustained in the fight. 

"Captain?"

She looked up to see Seven hesitantly approaching. "Pull up a log, Seven," she offered congenially. "Pardon me. Annika."

"It is all right." Seven settled onto the log next to Janeway. "You are intact?"

"Yes, I'm fine. How are the others?"

"There are varying degrees of injury, but only a few were lost to the Queen's invasion."

"This is going to get a lot tougher before it gets better, Sev-- Annika."

"No doubt the Queen is dissecting the defeated drones' nodes for clues how to fully disrupt the frequency which allows them to manifest as individuals in Unimatrix Zero."

"If she didn't know we were here, I'm sure she does now."

"It is dangerous for you to stay, Captain." Seven reached for the Captain's bruised right arm, surprised by the depth of her anxiety over the bruise. Janeway had sustained worse in their Velocity matches and that was real; this was false. So why was she so upset?

"I'm seeing this through to the end, Seven." Janeway's voice drew her gaze back up. The captain's left hand patted her cheek. 

Seven did not let it fall away, instead grasping it while their gazes intersected and locked. Physically aching in her stomach, Seven yearned to express to the captain the gratitude, admiration, and a million other emotions swirling through her. She swallowed, watching Janeway's gaze dip briefly to see her throat move, then back up, curious. 

"Seven?" Janeway's whisper drew Seven in closer to hear it. Janeway's breath touched her mouth just a fraction before their lips connected.

Seven struggled to identify all the emotions in the maelstrom even as she reveled in the contact. As the kiss deepened, Janeway's mouth parting on a gasp, and her tongue slipped against the wet heat of Janeway's own lingual muscle, she could only think,  _ Perfection  _ .

"Kathryn," she moaned the name. Delicate, determined fingers swept upward into her hair, cupped her head and held it in place, even as her mouth was released.

"Oh, God, Annika." Kathryn Janeway's gaze unfocused, breathing hard, her body pressing into hers all along its length.

Annika lowered Kathryn to the ground, their bodies never parting as everything heretofore unspoken welled up from their hearts to their fingers, hands, mouths, and bodies. In a dreamlike progression, clothing vanished, and something in Seven's mind created and changed their environment as quickly as the memories of millions of species, and hundreds of human couplings, flowed through her eidetic mind.

In between gasps of the most decadent pleasure she was sure she had ever experienced, Kathryn saw the forest glade become a boudoir. She lay naked upon a profusion of pillows, cushions. Satin sheets slid against her skin until Annika's silken flesh replaced it, warm and pulsating. Her soon-to-be lover's heartbeat pounded under her fingertips, their mutual gasps and moans mingled in passion's song.

As she climaxed on tender strokes, she knew, whatever the outcome, she would always do anything for this love.

She turned them over, indulging her own dreams too long held at bay, touching Annika as she had wanted for so long, expressing her soul's beauty, something she had seen in the young woman from the very beginning.

Kathryn's heartbeat soothed Annika laying against her chest. She was filled with a sense of completion as Kathryn's fingers lazily stroked through her hair. "Kathryn," she whispered softly. "I do not know if I loved... before, but I believe... I love now."

"I never expected this to happen," Kathryn whispered back.

"Are you upset that we have done this?" Annika began pulling away and just as quickly as it had changed, Annika's wariness returned them to the forest glade, including clothes.

Kathryn wondered how to explain it. Finally, she simply said, "I wonder if it will even be something we remember when this is all over." After a moment's hesitation, she admitted, "I hope so." A shy smile touched Annika's lips and Kathryn traced them with a fingertip. "I love you, too."

The glade was empty. Annika's mind sought out the other Unimatrix Zero drones, finding all had returned to reality, and the plan was well underway. "Kathryn, you must go now."

Kathryn stood. "We will be together again," she promised.

Annika stood as well, stepping up until their bodies touched, and wrapped her left arm around the smaller woman's waist. She brushed the fingers of her right hand over Kathryn's eyes, causing them to close slowly. Instructions were delivered to the drone.  _ Regeneration cycle complete . _

Kathryn Janeway vanished, disconnected from the virtual plane.

"Be safe, Kathryn," Annika whispered to the empty space where her lover had stood. Closing her own eyes, she awoke in her alcove aboard Voyager. Time to update the Commander on the rebellion's progress. She needed to plan for the retrieval of the Voyager crewmembers as soon as she determined the tide had turned against the Queen.

# # #

Drone Three of Fourteen, formerly Kathryn Janeway of the Federation starship Voyager, worked with purpose and assisted in the repair of a partition on the Borg ship designated Delta Three Four Nineteen, compelled by the orders to her work group. Inside her flowed millions of viral cells deposited by the Doctor. The sliver of her mind protected from assimilation struggled against the majority, trying to redirect her to the more pressing mission.

The  _ USS Voyager _ , her collective reported, hung in space nearby and the Borg intended to effect repairs quickly in order to assimilate the vessel.

"Seven," the drone said, a command standing out among the cacophony in her mind:  _ Task Beta _ . The drone fumbled the component and walked away, ignoring the dropped piece. Seeming aimless at first, it turned a corner, identified the central plexus, and walked forward, passing through three force fields unaffected.

Borg armatures lifted, tubules extended, and their contents were injected into the communication core.

The drone's expression remained uninflected. But the voice in her head was louder now  _ \- Report - _ and she answered it. "Delivery complete."

Chaos erupted among the nearest drones. Conduits hissed and exploded. Drones in regeneration alcoves suddenly came alert, some visibly confused and others clearly ordered to effect repairs. Borg lifted arms against Borg and the war was on.

_ CAPTAIN JANEWAY  _ Drone Three of Fourteen spun in place, accosted by the challenging voice of the Queen inside her head.  _ YOU ARE MINE NOW  _

_ She will never be yours _ , came another, surer voice inside the drone's head. She squeezed her eyes shut, clapped her armatures over her ears and screamed.

The Borg Queen's attempt to counteract the neural block and Seven's frantic attempt to intervene and transport the Starfleet captain away from the Borg cube, warred in the very synapses of Kathryn Janeway's mind. She crumpled to the deck as the matter-energy conversion completed and saw her physical arrival on Voyager.

Hands grabbed her; she fought them. Something hissed against her throat. She squeezed her eyes shut against the light and heard a frantic voice. "Emergency transport to sickbay. Doctor, I am bringing in the captain."

Fading quickly, she only heard one last command-as-plea, "Kathryn, hold on to me." Then she blacked out. She would not awaken for three days.

**_Read “From Love Comes Strength” to follow this story_ **


End file.
